Waste News articles from February 2006

Waste News archives from February 2006

Stock Report.(At Your Disposal)
February 13, 2006... 3 graphs: Waste News Stock Index * Calvert Social Index Fund * Dow Jones Industrial Average * table: Percentage change by market segment: see print copy

Editors' suggestion: Don't skim our annual recycling survey.(Special Report)
February 13, 2006... Here's some (hopefully) helpful advice from the editors at Waste News: Be careful when comparing one city's recycling rate to another city's rate. The purpose of our seventh annual Municipal Recycling Survey is to illustrate what major...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
February 13, 2006... The correct Web address in the story titled "Duo attempts national e-recycling plan'' on Page 6 of the Jan. 30 issue is ww.ecyclingresource.org.

Cutting water tricky business; Bush allots less for EPA budget in 2007.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman President Bush has proposed reducing the Environmental Protection Agency's 2007 budget by 4 percent compared with 2006. The $315 million reduction in environmental spending would come largely from cutting about...

Montana utility eyes clean coal power.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini A Montana utility cooperative is a step closer to building one of the world's cleanest coal-fired power plants. Southwestern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Cooperative Inc. has identified companies it...

Republic VP stresses community relations.(News)(Will Flower)(vice president)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Construction and demolition debris recycling sites are kind of like the Giant Panda, the way Will Flower sees it. Both are endangered species. Development around once remote locations can put community pressure...

EPA aims to reduce chemical; DuPont takes issue with C8's cancer risk.(News)(Environmental Protection Agency)
February 13, 2006... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is creating the program to reduce perfluorooctanic acid - or PFOA - releases and use in products by 95 percent by 2010. And the agency wants to eliminate all sources of exposure by 2015. PFOA -...

Train, boat regs unsafe, groups say; Railroad association says report is misleading and irresponsible.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Pollution from trains and boats cause 4,400 premature deaths every year, two groups representing clean air agencies claim. But a group representing the railroad industry labels a report by the groups "extremely...

Waste Industry Briefs.(Briefs)(security case filed)(Oakleaf Waste Management L.L.C. acquires Valet Waste Inc)(resignation of inspector general of Environmental Protection Agency)
February 13, 2006... Hauling Former WM exec tried for insider trading A former chief accounting officer at Waste Management Inc. violated antifraud provisions of federal securities laws and engaged in insider trading, the U.S. Securities and Exchange...

EPA assailed for making changes to pollution report.(News)(Environmental Protection Agency)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Senate Democrats, the American Lung Association and members of a scientific panel that advises the Environmental Protection Agency have criticized the agency's proposed air quality standards for particle pollution....

N.C. sues power provider.(News)(North Carolina)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper has made good on a threat to sue the Tennessee Valley Authority if it didn't clean up its power plants. The attorney general filed a lawsuit Jan. 30 against the TVA, asking...

Waste Generator Briefs.(Elle magazine)(Powered by Renewables)(General Electric Co)
February 13, 2006... Publishing Fashion magazine Elle goes green Elle magazine is going green for its May issue. The fashion magazine will be printed entirely on recycled paper and focus on green issues in what the magazine is calling its "Green...

Buyback in Republic's plans.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Republic Services Inc. plans to continue an aggressive stock repurchase plan in 2006 by spending almost $500 million to buy back an estimated 9 percent of the company's outstanding shares. Republic announced last...

Bush unveils cure for America's oil 'addiction'.(America is addicted to oil)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini President Bush said it. Now he needs to do it, some say. "Here we have a serious problem - America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world,'' he said during his State of the Union...

Ohio company bolstered by environmental efforts.(News)(Babcock and Wilcox Co.)
February 13, 2006... Byline: David Bennett Crain's Cleveland Business Driven into seeking bankruptcy protection from creditors six years ago because of growing asbestos claims, Babcock & Wilcox Co. of Barberton, Ohio, is about to emerge as a stronger company...

C&D official sees hope.(News)(construction and demolition debris recycling business face some serious issues)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Those in the construction and demolition debris recycling business face some serious issues, but it's not all doom and gloom, one of their own said. John Blaisdell of Green Seal Environmental Inc. of Sandwich,...

CAPITAL BRIEFS.
February 13, 2006... LEGISLATION GENERAL ENVIRONMENT Colorado: House Joint Resolution 1007 concerns the funding of the national renewable energy laboratory for the purpose of continuation of research, and, in connection with that, encourages such funding...

Single-stream dip going swimmingly.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Charlotte Pitt In June 2005, the city and county of Denver took the plunge into the world of single-stream recycling. Since then the recycling program has experienced an 18 percent increase in tonnage collected and an increased...

E2C group reorganizes.(Engaging and Empowering Citizenship)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan An Arizona-based private company that promotes itself as an Internet clearinghouse for recycling nationwide is in the midst of drawing up a reorganization plan after filing for bankruptcy. Records from U.S....

Michigan DEQ seeks help to slow imports.(News)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Michigan's top environmental official is calling for legislative action to blunt the import of trash from other states and Canada. Steven Chester, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, asked...

Hauler enters Florida market.(acquiring of Liberty Waste LLC and Sun Country Materials LLC )(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Waste Services Inc. is spending $38.5 million to expand the company's Florida operations through the acquisition of two companies. Waste Services is acquiring Liberty Waste LLC and Sun Country Materials LLC in...

Sludge turns to power in Wis.(Neenah Paper Inc)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson A Wisconsin paper mill is now using its own sludge to help power operations and cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 80 percent. Neenah Paper Inc.'s mill in Neenah, Wis., recycles about 10,000 tons of paper sludge...

Utilities seek assurance on mercury pollution controls.(waste-to-energy industry mercury emission reduction)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini It's good to know someone else feels your pain. As U.S. utilities grapple with the uncertainty of mercury regulation, the concept is deja vu for crossovers from the waste-to-energy industry. On March 15, the...

A ticking sewer bomb.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... President Bush's proposed budget for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 is not going to make anyone think he's becoming an environmentalist. The overall budget is less than 2006 and calls for some alarming cuts. The most...

Wind industry gusts to record.(wind energy industry )
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini The U.S. wind energy industry boasted a record year in 2005, installing more than $3 billion worth of new generating equipment, and the momentum should continue for the next two years. Wind energy output jumped by...

At Deadline.(Tom's of Maine Inc)(Union Pacific Railroad Co.)(Allied Waste Industries Inc.)
February 13, 2006... Maine plant switches to all green power The nation's largest natural personal-care product maker has moved to 100 percent renewable energy at its manufacturing facility. Tom's of Maine will use wind energy generated at the Ainsworth...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
February 13, 2006... Black coffee While some environmental groups may be standing in the way of bioreactor landfill development, it is not unnecessarily so. That is because it is not so clear that bioreactor landfills are an appropriate technology. I support...

South of the border; Ex-EPA engineer joins Peace Corps, advises Mexican firms.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Brennan Lafferty Chicago's Paul Ruesch is getting his hands dirty in Mexico, and loving it. Running hand augers and sampling oil-soaked soil as a Peace Corp volunteer has energized the former U.S. Environmental Protection...

Prison e-cycling project may go national.(recycle electronics )
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini Federal prisoners could be a big help in reducing electronic waste. Federal Prison Industries Inc. and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality have launched a pilot project to recycle electronics statewide...

Inbox.(At Your Disposal)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Pete Fehrenbach Gridirony: With all the low-key modesty and small-scale unostentatiousness on display at that little football contest they staged in Detroit last week [he typed sarcastically], perhaps the last thing you'd expect to...

A Look Back.(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... 1940: Japanese conquests in Southeast Asia cut off America's supply of tin, hampering the production of canned food. Five years ago: Waste Management Inc. says it will build an all-bottles plastic recycling facility in North Carolina. ...

Mixed therapy.(oil obsession)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... A basic tenet of substance abuse treatment is that recovery can never start until the subject has owned up to his or her addiction. So when a president who's a former oil man declares that his country is addicted to oil and it's time to end...

New Products & Technology.(Products)
February 27, 2006... ATLAS COPCO CONSTRUCTION TOOLS INC. has introduced the LWP2 Submersible Water Pump, which produces a discharge of up to 222 gallons per minute and has a lifting head of up to 82 feet. The pump can be used for applications such as continuous...

Stock Report.(At Your Disposal)
February 27, 2006... 3 graphs: Waste News Stock Index * Calvert Social Index Fund * Dow Jones Industrial Average * table: Percentage change by market segment: see print copy

Central states, EPA join to cut emissions.(Environmental Protection Agency)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Federal environmental officials have announced a plan with nine central states to reduce emissions and improve air quality. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Central States Air Resources Agencies...

CAPITAL BRIEFS.(environmental law for United states)
February 27, 2006... LEGISLATION GENERAL ENVIRONMENT Connecticut: House Bill 5002 provides a tax incentive for the use of fuels that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Introduced Feb. 8. Connecticut: House Bill...

Stalemate in New York; Teamsters, Waste Management haven't negotiated since early January.(labour dispute: Unionized workers and Waste Management Inc)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Unionized workers and Waste Management Inc. are locked in a labor dispute in New York City that a Teamsters official said could have implications across the country. About 125 members of Teamsters Local 813 have...

Enzyme removes peroxide from wastewater.(catalase enzyme)(Thermus brockianus)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Tracy Hayhurst The term "extremeophile'' might bring to mind someone who skis off cliffs or jumps from skyscrapers, but it applies to a type of bacterium that lives in the extreme conditions found in the hot springs of Yellowstone...

Capitol Hill doesn't take kindly to Johnson's defense; Critics from both parties blast EPA cuts.(Environmental Protection Agency)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The head of the Environmental Protection Agency defended the Bush administration's proposed agency budget for 2007 during a Senate committee hearing. Administrator Stephen Johnson, testifying Feb. 15 before the...

Green pokey; Maryland jail works to counteract environmental neglect.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Sooey! Jail wardens in a Washington, D.C., suburb are on the lookout for a cooperative pig farmer or two. This is no sting operation. They'd prefer to feed inmates' food scraps to hungry critters rather than...

Coming Events.(Calendar)
February 27, 2006... Feb. 27-March 3 - Groundwater Pollution and Hydrology Course, San Francisco. Call (813) 964-0800 or visit www.princeton-groundwater.com. Feb. 28-March 2 - Global Plastics Environmental Conference, Atlanta. Contact Gwen Mathis or visit...

Ohio farmers cultivating energy crops.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini The 21st century will see farmers growing a brand new crop - energy. Demand for raw materials to produce ethanol and biodiesel are increasing, and those materials include corn, soybeans and other crops, said Howard...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
February 27, 2006... Los Angeles' overall recycling rate should have been listed at 62 percent in the Municipal Recycling Survey that appeared on Page 13 of the Feb. 13 issue.

Buckeye State lags in wind production.(wid energy production plants of ohio)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini Windmill pioneer Charles Brush would not be impressed with his home state's progress in wind energy production. Brush, an Ohio native, is believed to have built the world's first large-scale wind turbine in 1888 in...

Responsibility lacking for e-waste.(Opinion)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Sarah Westervelt In an era when most of us use electronics and thereby contribute to a large-scale toxic waste problem, there is increasing frustration that our federal government has refused to address this mammoth problem head...

More cleaner-burning garbage trucks on road; Inform: Number of trucks has doubled.(News)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Use of cleaner-burning, natural gas-powered trash trucks more than doubled during the past three years in the United States, a national environmental research group reports. The New York-based group Inform Inc. says...

EPA to lift rules on ethanol, MTBE in gas.(Environmental Protection Agency)(methyl tertiary butyl ether)
February 27, 2006... Federal environmental regulators are telling states with air quality problems that soon they will no longer be required to sell gasoline containing ethanol or MTBE. California was among the states objecting to the U.S. Environmental...

Allied execs say firm turned corner in '05.(News)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson The view from Allied Waste Industries Inc.'s corner office is this: 2005 was a turnaround year for the nation's second-largest solid waste management company. "We entered 2005 with a clear objective of stopping a...

GM stresses E-85 in media campaign; U.S. auto execs discuss a green future.(General Motors Corp.)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Jamie LaReau General Motors is launching a major push to project a green image when it kicks off a print campaign promoting its flexible-fuel vehicles, which can operate on the ethanol-based fuel known as E-85. The ads were...

Ford sees multiple powertrain options; U.S. auto execs discuss a green future.(News)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Amy Wilson Gasoline-powered internal combustion engines will be around for at least 50 years, Ford Motor Co.'s top environmental engineer said. But the industry will turn to a wide variety of alternate technologies, including...

Personnel.(appointments and promotions of recycling industry)
February 27, 2006... AMERICAN WATER - Ellen Wolf appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer. ASSOCIATION OF OHIO RECYCLERS - Andrew Cripps elected president; Donna Stusek re-elected vice president; Anne Filbert re-elected secretary; Stampp...

At Deadline.(Late News)
February 27, 2006... Southern Co. nabs power plant partner The U.S. Department of Energy is partnering with electric utility Southern Co. and others to develop what they hope will be one of the cleanest coal-fired power plants in the world. The federal...

Congress members don't impress on league scorecard.(News)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The League of Conservation Voters has given low grades to most senators and congressmen in its National Environmental Scorecard for 2005. The league criticized passage of an energy bill it called "the most...

Waste Generator Briefs.(Briefs)
February 27, 2006... Building Products Cement plant employs waste for fuel A South Carolina cement plant has begun using nonhazardous solid waste as fuel at its facility in Holly Hill. The plant is owned by Holcim Inc., one of the world's leading...

Waste Industry Briefs.(MedServe Inc. acquires Envirosolve LLC)
February 27, 2006... Medical Waste MedServe buys Okla.-based Envirosolve MedServe Inc., a Houston-based medical waste management company, has purchased Envirosolve LLC of Tulsa, Okla. MedServe did not disclose terms of the acquisition, but said it...

Use of flush tax funds in Maryland causes quite a stir.(News)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Environmentalists heralded Maryland when it became the first Mid-Atlantic state to embrace a "flush tax'' to halt degradation of the Chesapeake Bay. State Sen. Paula Hollinger, a key backer, said she had no...

Water trust bill debuts.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan A cross-section of organizations including American Rivers, the Portland Cement Association and the Western Coalition of Arid States is backing a bill that would invent a $37.5 billion federal trust fund to clean...

McWane's Utah foundry hit with record fine.(McWane Inc.)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini An Alabama-based cast iron pipe manufacturer will pay Utah's largest criminal environmental fine for falsifying emission tests at one of its foundries in the state. McWane Inc. and a former vice president pleaded...

A Look Back.(waste management industry)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... 1986: Rhode Island enacts the nation's first statewide mandatory recycling law. Five years ago: Republic Services Inc. purchases one of the biggest independent waste companies in the West, Richmond Sanitary Services Inc. of Richmond,...

Tag sale; Radio frequency recycling system set for expansion.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini It's technology driven, it's incentive-based and it's in demand. RecycleBank LLC's "smart cart'' recycling system, which uses bins and carts embedded with radio frequency identification tags and gives incentives to...

Like money in the bank.(services of RecycleBank LLC)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... We said Philadelphia's RecycleBank program was a great idea when it was launched as a pilot plan about a year ago. Now it appears others are getting on board as well. The program uses bins and carts with radio frequency identification tags...

Inbox.(At Your Disposal)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Pete Fehrenbach Woodwork squeaks and out come the geeks: All of a sudden, e-waste news is busting out all over. Wal-Mart, the modest chain of ma-and-pa five-and-dimes based in Arkansas, is about to start selling a computer it...

Crops, wind & rust.(renewable energy conference in Ohio )
February 27, 2006... Byline: Allan Gerlat Pardon us Midwesterners if we seem defensive. We have a horrible nickname - "The Rust Belt'' - and jobs in manufacturing and elsewhere have been declining for years. And with them has gone population, in search of...

A flood of flak.(funding for wastewater systems )(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Stephen Johnson has officially joined the growing line of human shields that President Bush has employed in the chair of EPA chief. Johnson faced criticism this month from the usual players on the left of the aisle when he testified about...

Rockwell, Dow on losing end of $500M contamination case.(News)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman A federal jury has awarded more than $500 million to 12,000 owners of property near the former Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant in Colorado. The Feb. 14 verdict culminated a 16-year legal battle by the...

Stamp of approval; New e-waste recycling effort focuses on certification.(electronic waste)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini With any luck, this sequel will be better than many of the flops that have come out of Hollywood. A group of about 40 stakeholders in the electronic waste situation last gathered Jan. 30 in Washington at a meeting...

Congress considers $50M for Calif. perchlorate cleanup.(perchlorate contamination )(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Two members of Congress have introduced legislation in both the House and Senate to authorize $50 million for perchlorate contamination cleanup in California. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Richard...

Supplier News.(Heil Environmental distribution agreements)(Environmental Inc. has opened a new office in Tyler, Texas)(Severn Trent Laboratories has opened a new office in Charleston)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Heil Environmental adds distributor Heil Environmental has named C.N. Wood Co. Inc. an authorized distributor of Heil refuse equipment. C.N. Wood will distribute Heil refuse equipment in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and...

Fla.-based Handex has new owner.(nonenvironmental venture capital group acquisitions)(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman A Florida-based environmental services firm has emerged from bankruptcy and is under new ownership. Handex Consulting and Remediation has purchased the assets essential to the environmental remediation business...

WM in mood to sell assets.(waste management)
February 27, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Waste Management Inc. now could divest operations generating $900 million in annual revenue as the company continues to look to shed underperforming assets. The Houston-based company, while releasing 2005 fiscal...